Established in 1912, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary stretches across southern Alberta. The diocese is led by Bishop William T. McGrattan. Our mission of “Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep.” drives everything we do to spread the Gospel of Christ to Southern Alberta. Charitable B/N: 10790-9939-RR0076

Our Diocese is a thriving Body of Faithful Catholics with events happening all around Southern Alberta designed to help those in need, build our knowledge of the faith and sometimes to simply provide some much needed fun! Check out the links on this page to find out what’s going on.

A diocese, from the Greek term of dioikeîn meaning to keep house, administer, govern, exists to ensure the Faithful within its boundaries have access to everything they need to practice their Faith in a meaningful way. The Diocese of Calgary does this by providing various ministries and offices to serve the 450,000 Catholics in Southern Alberta.

At the core of our Catholicism is a deep and abiding Faith in Christ. We hope these pages will provide useful and informative resources to you whether you are new to the concept of Christianity or a lifetime member of the Church.

Our Faith is lived out in our day to day lives. The navigation of this journey can often require support, education or simple encouragement. These pages will show you the way the Diocese is ready to walk alongside you as we journey through life together.

Has one of our Diocesan programs impacted your life and inspired you to contribute? Do you wish to contribute to a current disaster relief project? Are you planning an estate and need some information about including your parish or the Diocese in your will? These pages will help you in your mission to give. Thank you for your support.

Bishop's Blog

With more than 100 religious leaders in attendance on October 3, the International Affairs Minister, John Baird, opened formal consultation on the creation of an Office of Religious Freedom.

The Office's mandate intended to promote and protect freedom of religion and belief, consistent with Canadian values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The Office will operate within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

While much remains undecided, at first blush, this look like a very important promissary note in view of a sampling of recent happenings reported in Catholic Culture News Headlines for October 11 and 12 such as:

Bishop warns of growing Islamic extremism in Indonesia ...

Muslim mob attacks Christians in Pakistan ...

Coptic Catholic spokesman: Egyptian government complicit in church burnings...

In addition to Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other religious groups can find themselves discriminated against or attacked in various countries, especially where they are a minority. Small incidents can spark large reactions and outbursts.

A December 2009 Pew study on "Global Restrictions on Religion" found that 64 nations, with 70 percent of the world's population, have high or very high restrictions on religion. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq, scored high or very high on both governmental and social restrictions.

Others, like Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, score high on social hostilities, but were more moderate regarding government restrictions.

And others, like China and Vietnam, scored high on government restrictions, but had more moderate levels of social hostilities.

While many nations have freedom of religion provisions in their constitutions, the Pew study found that only 27 percent fully respected religious rights.

The Pew study considers social hostilities to be concrete, hostile actions that effectively hinder the religious activities of the targeted individuals or groups. These may include: harassment over attire, practices or occupations which run counter to those of the majority religion; vandalism of religious property or homes of religious minorities; and beatings and murders.

Whether restrictions on religion are imposed by government or by society, religious minorities are often perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a cultural, economic or political threat to the majority.

In many countries, Christians are a religious minority that has been under attack. In some countries, Christians may be viewed as a threat because in advocating for the common good and for respect of the dignity of all people, their values challenge the traditional social order and expose economic inequalities. In some countries, political parties use religion as a rallying cry to gain supporters and mask oppression of religious minorities under the guise of preserving a national identity and culture. In other countries, tensions among ethnic groups over land, resources, and access to education and employment opportunities that erupt into violence can be framed as a religious dispute if the groups are of different religions. Some states view religious adherence as a challenge to their authority and seek to control believers.

Catholic teaching declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men and women are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

There are two important things to note here: First, that men and women are not to be forced to act contrary to their beliefs but, second, that this freedom from coercion is operative only within due limits.

This principle of liberty is advanced simply because duties always entail corresponding rights, and persons cannot discharge their obligation to seek the truth unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as psychological freedom. This freedom has its foundation not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature. Hence it applies even to those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it. But again, there is a limitation: The exercise of this right is not to be impeded, provided that just public order be observed . In other words, within due limits includes the observance of just public order.

The reason for religious liberty is that the exercise of religion, of its very nature, consists before all else in those internal, voluntary and free acts whereby a person sets the course of his or her life directly toward God. No merely human power can either command or prohibit acts of this kind. These acts transcend by their very nature the order of terrestrial and temporal affairs. Therefore, government ought to take account of the religious life of the citizenry and show it favour but it would clearly transgress the limits set to its power, were it to presume to command or inhibit acts that are religious .

I sincerely hope that Canada's proposed action will be an important and prophetic first step in securing fundamental religious freedom for all.